Of Flowers and Kunais: An Ino Yamanaka Story
by InkFingerTips6
Summary: What if Ino had defeated Sakura at the chunin exams? This is a story about her fighting her way to become a powerful kunochi
1. Chapter 1

_Get up!_ Ino's mind screamed at her.

The blond kunochi had just taken a punch to the face from Sakura and was currently laying on her back. The ground was hard beneath her, cold and unforgiving. Her back was going to hurt later. She was in the preliminary matches for the chunin exams. Her opponent was Sakura.

_Come on, Ino! Don't lose to Forehead!_ Her mind screamed again.

Ino's cereulean blue eyes fluttered open and she squinted at the bright stadium light glaring down at her.

_Move!_

She struggled forcing herself to lift up on her elbows, her eyes clenched shut with effort and she ground her teeth. Across the arena, she saw Sakura in a very similar position, the pink haired girl's face contorted in pain and exhaustion.

_This would be easier if you would lose 3 more pounds…Get up!_

Ino forced her hands beneath her arms and shoved herself into a sitting position, her slender arms shook with the effort, her entire body shook with effort. Every muscle in her body screamed in protest as she moved each limb.

_There you go! Now stand up!_

She felt like an infant, her limbs unfamiliar and heavy. Awkward and ungainly. She stumbled from side to side her toes scrapping the green tiles of the arena floor. She finally managed to stop swaying and after a brief moment, looked up.

She didn't look at anyone in particular, she just wanted to look defiant. She wanted to look like a confident and powerful kunochi, not some random girl who almost lost to forehead. Sakura had broken through her mind transfer technique! She had two souls! That had never happened before. She turned her head to see Sakura laying on the ground unconscious. Kakashi appeared in a puff of smoke and nodded briefly to her before he vanished once again, Sakura in his arms.

"Winner, Yamanaka Ino." The voice of the proctor coughed.

Ino released a breath that she didn't realize that she was holding. She bowed to the proctor before stumbling towards the stairs, as she walked she looked up at the names posted on the screen above her head.

Tenten vs. Temari.

Ino paused in the middle of her ascent; disguising her fatigue to catch her breath as interest in the two girls who were currently meeting in the middle of the arena.

She recognized Tenten, the girl was a Konoha nin, after all. She was dressed in a rose pink Chinese cut shirt and a pair of ninja capris. Her chestnut colored hair was tied in two perfectly symmetrical buns on either side of her head. Across from Tenten stood Temari.

Temari was a girl who Ino had never seen before. The blond girl looked to be a couple of years older than she, with sandy blond hair yanked up into four messy pigtails. She had a huge fan in her grasp, and Ino could see the malice in her minty eyes. This girl was brutal, an involuntary shiver went through her body.

"Ino! Get upstairs!" Shikamaru's voice broke her thoughts and Ino turned quickly to continue her ascent. Her teammate caught her at the top of the stairs and helped her walk to where Chouji, Naruto, Kakashi, and Asuma all stood. Kakashi looked at her from beneath his mask.

Ino resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at the man. Yes, she had just beaten his student. Instead she allowed the emotion to expose itself through her eyes.

He got the message because he just gave her his crinkle-eyed smile and turned his attention back to the match.

Asuma's heavy hand landed on her slender shoulder and squeezed happily. "Congratuations , kid."

She smiled brightly at her teacher and returned her attention back to the match. She couldn't help the feeling of pride that was surging through her body, she had won!

_That was just because you are too pig-headed to figure out when to stop. And if you hadn't let your emotions for Sakura get in the way towards the beginning of the match or hesitated when you took over Sakura's mind, you would have won the match._ She thought to herself.

She knew that she had won that match, and that was all that mattered. But she also knew that she had let her emotions for Sakura get in the way.

A hand yanked on her now stubby and poorly cut ponytail. She instantly regretted having cut it all off. She turned to see Chouji standing behind her.

"You better have not gotten crumbs in my hair." She stated instantly.

Chouji smirked. "I didn't but good job!" he stated happily.

She smiled back at her teammate. "Thanks! Now, you had better win too!"

Once the preliminaries were over, Ino stood next to Shikamaru in a line with the other ninja who would be competing in the final matches for the Chunin Exams.

She looked at the chart before her, a series of brackets with the names randomly chosen was listed before her.

Uchiha Sasuke vs. Sabuku no Gaara

Hyuuga Neji vs. Uzumaki Naruto

Aburame Shino vs. Sabuku no Kankuro

Nara Shikamaru vs. Sabuku no Temari

Kinuta Dosu vs. Yamanaka Ino

Ino couldn't help the shudder that ran through her body, Dosu was the same guy who had beaten Chouji only moments ago without breaking a sweat.

"You all have one month to prepare for the exams. You will receive more information later on." Ibiki stated before dismissing the students.

Shikamaru was on Ino in an instant. "Forfit." He stated simply.

"What?" Ino demanded.

"You heard me."

"No." Ino replied.

"Ino, this man could kill you!" Shikamaru exclaimed.

"And Temari is all roses and butterflies." Ino scoffed.

"But Ino, I actually stand a chance against her."

Ino stopped walking and glared at Shikamaru. "What?"

"You're not strong e-"

_SLAP_.

The sound echoed in the stadium, and bystanders paused to watch the interaction. Shikamaru slowly raised his hand to his cheek, his brown eyes wide with shock.

"Stay away from me." Ino growled in Shikamaru's ear before walking away.

The next day, team 10 met at the training grounds. Ino hid her horribly cut hair beneath a hair cover, her vanity showing at its finest.

She stood next to Choji avoiding eye contact with Shikamaru.

"Today we will be playing catch the blond" Asuma stated.

"Are you serious?"

"What!"

Shikamarua and Ino yelled at the same time.

"You heard me. Shikamaru you need to work on your endurance and Ino you need to work on your speed. Choji you need to work on stealth" Asuma stated before lighting a cigarette.

"How long of a head start do I get?" Ino groaned.

"Two minutes, you had better get going. You know the boundaries by now" Asuma stated blowing smoke into the air.

Ino sighed before sprinting across the training ground and into the think foliage in the forest near training ground 1.

Two minutes slowly ticked by. "You ready boys?" Asuma inquired.

"What a drag" Shikamaru stated.

"Yeah" Choji answered.

"Go get her" Asuma said. "You're being timed"

At this Shikamaru couldn't help but smirk slightly. "This will prove to her that she isn't prepared to face that Dosu guy" he muttered to Choji.

The other boy sighed. It was going to be a long day.


	2. Training day 1

Ino breathed hard as she darted through the forest, she could hear Shikamaru's footsteps behind her. She pushed herself more.

His shadow possession jutsu threatening to catch her if she stayed on the ground too long. if she could just stay that far ahead of him she would be safe. She needed to think of a fast way to escape him.

But knowing her luck he was probably ten moves ahead of her.

She had to think of something fast.

Something that Ino would never do, something that he didn't think she would do. Then she saw it.

The lake.

She used to always complain to him about how nasty the water was and how the algae gave her the creeps.

She jumped down from the trees quickly and continued her sprint towards the lake.

Shikamaru landed behind her and then she heard another set of heavy foot steps.

Chouji had been waiting there all along.

Damn it, Shikamaru was always ten moves ahead of her.

They thought they had her cornered, they knew that she didn't like the lake.

She mentally prepared herself. _OK Ino you've got this. Don't let your vanity get in the way. If you are going to become a chunin you have to get over this_

She inwardly squealed as she leapt into the water and quickly swam down towards the bottom of the lake. She looked up at the surface to see the silhouettes of Shikamaru and Chouji waiting at the top.

This is it.

She swam beneath the trees and hid in among the roots of a willow tree.

She quickly preformed the hand signs of her mind transfer jutsu and aimed for Chouji.

She entered the boy's mind easily and turned towards Shikamaru.

"Give up, Shika" she said through Chouji's body as she reached for the shadow user.

Instead she caught a shadow clone.

_Shit. Where is he? _

"Ino" Shikamaru's voice rang out from above.

She looked up to see the boy standing in the tree branches above her. Her dripping wet body in his arms.

_Always ten steps ahead_.

"Release the jutsu. We win" Shikamaru stated.

Ino sighed and preformed the hand signs to release the jutsu.

She opened her eyes still in Shikamaru's arms.

"Put me down" she demanded.

The boy did as he was told.

"You threw me for a quick trip when you dove into the lake. Unfortunate for you, I created shadow clones while you were hiding underwater and sent them all out to find you. Chouji stayed here as bait, knowing that he would be the one who's mind you would take over" Shikamaru explained.

Ino groaned.

_Always at least 10 steps ahead_ her inner self reminded.

"You lasted longer than expected if it makes you feel any better" Chouji stated as he reached into his pocket for a bag of chips.

Ino rolled her eyes and let out a frustrated noise before turning and storming away.

Shikamaru and Chouji exchanged glances before the two of them following at a leisurely pace.

"How long did she last?" Asuma asked when Shikamaru and Chouji arrived. Ino was currently beating her frustration out of a training dummy.

Shikamaru couldn't help but wince when he saw her kick the dummy in a rather sensitive area for men.

"Forty minutes" Chouji answered.

Asuma turned towards the girl. "She's getting better. Did she do anything impressive? Why is she wet-did you two throw her in the lake?"

"She actually had a pretty good plan. She jumped in the lake to throw us off and then she hid her body in one of the willow trees before possessing me. But Shikamaru had a plan already. He split up into shadow clones and found Ino's body" Chouji explained.

"It was a stupid plan. She left her body" Shikamaru stated putting his hands in his pockets.

"That was how she won the chunin exams" Asuma pointed out.

"No she won because she was too damn stubborn to give up" Shikamaru replied.

Asuma smirked before lighting a cigarette.

"This guy who she is up against is the one who figured out the entire Ino-Shika-Cho formation in a matter of minutes. When Ino possessed his teammate, the girl who I fought in the preliminaries, he didn't hesitate to take her out. This man feels nothing" Shikamaru argued.

Asuma nodded before blowing a stream of smoke in the air "Ino."

Shikamaru watched as Ino walked towards them. She had removed her arm warmers that were currently drying in a tree. The cover she wore to hide her hair was missing from her swim in the lake, revealing her short spikey ponytail, the usually silver blond strands now a darker gold due to being wet.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Go and take a lunch break. Be back here at 2:00 with Shikamaru. Chouji, you and are going to do a few more things then you are free to go" Asuma said to the round faced boy.

"Awww…you mean I can't eat yet? I'm so hungry" Chouji complained.

"How are you hungry?" Ino demanded incrediously

"I'm a growing boy!" Chouji snapped back.

"What a drag" Shikamaru found himself saying "Leave him alone troublesome woman" he muttered.

"What did you say!" she demanded her anger now focused on him.

"Let's go eat" he said as he turned to walk away.

Ino glared after the boy before walking off in the opposite direction towards her home. She wanted to get out of these wet clothes and take a nap. Maybe she would eat an apple or something. She needed to lose those three pounds.

She walked to her home and waved to her dad when she walked past the flower shop. When she got to her room she stripped off her wet clothes and toweled herself dry with a fluffy purple towel before pulling on a pair of short black spandex shorts and a Konoha t-shirt with the fire emblem on the front.

She winced when she saw her ugly hair in the mirror. She sighed before setting her alarm and laying down on her bed.

An hour later, the blond kunochi arrived at the training grounds. Shikamaru was already waiting for her, his arms behind his head as he gazed skywards.

"Looks like rain, what a drag" Shikamaru stated.

"A little rain never hurt anyone. Besides it makes the flowers grow" Ino stated with a smile as she inhaled the scent of rain heavy in the air. The blond loved the rain, the smell, the sound, the way that the world seemed to be refreshed after each shower.

Shikamaru rolled his deep brown eyes.

Ino let out an annoyed sigh.

"OK you two, let's do a spar. Everything goes except your kekki genkai" Asuma stated.

"What?" Ino screeched the same time Shikamaru muttered "What a drag"

"Odds are neither of you will be able to preform your kekki genkai. Shikamaru you need shadows and if your battle is at high noon, you could be screwed against Temari. And Ino you know the risk of your kekki genkai if you miss" Asuma stated simply.

Ino and Shikamaru found themselves unable to argue with their sensai.

"Loser buys dinner?" Shikamaru stated with a smirk.

He noticed the doubt flash through Ino's beautiful sapphire eyes. She knew that she didn't really stand a chance against him. He was a genius after all. Ino may have graduated top in the class at the academy but that was only because Shikamaru was honestly too bored and lazy to pick up a pencil.

She must have noticed the cocky look that appeared on his face because before he knew it he received a punch in the face that sent him sprawling to the ground.

"You may be smarter, Shika. But I'm not going to go down without a fight" Ino stated as Shikamaru climbed back to his feet and touched his bleeding lip.

"That's because you're too stubborn and troublesome to know when to quit. You don't know when to back down Ino. You will get a squad killed one day if you don't learn when retreat is the best option" Shimaru stated as he began to form a strategy in his head.

He squatted down into his usual thinking position but his thoughts were cut short when a barrage of sebon needles came flying at him, causing him to duck and roll out of the way.

_Damn, she knows everything about me. She's not going to let me think_ Shikamaru thought.

"What a drag" he muttered to himself before making five shadow clones.

About thirty feet away Ino was deep in thought, trying to figure out the best way to defeat Shikamaru. This boy was a genius there was no way she would stand a chance and she knew that. But she had to try. Her best bet was to not let him get into his thinking pose. If he did that, he would have time to formulate a plan and she would definitely be screwed.

The five shadow clones that Shikamaru created started running towards her. She knew what he was doing, creating a distraction so that he could vanish and think.

"Oh no you don't" she stated as she ran thorough the barrage of Shikamaru clones towards the real one.

Shikamaru quickly drew a kunai to block her attack.

_Damn it where the hell are my shadow clones?_ Shikamaru thought.

Then he saw them, fighting with Ino shadow clones.

"When did you make those?" he demanded as she sliced at him before he jumped out of the way.

"When you were on the ground" Ino replied this time trying to kick him.

Shikamaru couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face. "Looks like you might know a thing or two about strategy after all" he stated.


	3. End of day 1

Ino groaned when she saw the bill that she had to pay after her spar with Shikamaru.

Shikamaru smirked as Ino counted out her money to pay for the tab. He would never admit it, but Ino had gotten close to defeating him in that spar. She was getting better at forming strategies, her fighting skills and movements were getting better. Her almost defeat by Sakura had made her focus more. She was less cocky now…although she has almost gotten too cautious.

No wonder she graduated top in their class. She was smart.

But he was smarter.

When she finished paying she stood up with a slight huff "You coming genius?" she demanded.

Shikamaru stood up lazily "Nah, I'm going to go to the hill" he stated placing his hands in his pockets.

Ino groaned but waved good bye as she headed out the door towards the training fields.

_I have to get stronger_.

She started her warm up by running around the training grounds. After a couple of miles she stopped to catch her breath before deciding to work on her target practice. Ino was a pretty good shot, but out of the ten kunai she threw only six of them hit the center of the target, the rest although they hit the target, were too wide.

"Looks like someone needs a bit more practice" a voice sounded from behind her.

She jumped and turned around a kunai in her hand.

"Relax Yamanaka-san, I came here to train the same as you" the Hyuuga boy stated as he entered the training grounds.

Ino still glanced at him skeptically. It was hard to trust a boy who was almost as pretty as she was.

"I am going to use do some byukagan training. You continue your target practice. I will be behind you" Neji said.

Ino scoffed. "How do I know that you won't attack me?" she demanded.

"You aren't worth my time , besides I am amazed that you made it to the final battle" Neji replied.

Ino had a short temper and she was willing to admit that. She turned around quickly and threw a kunai at the Hyuuge protégé.

Neji turned quickly and caught the kunai. His byukagan was not activated but he certainly wasn't expecting someone as "weak" as Yamanaka to challenge him.

Ino instantly realized her mistake when she saw the boy activate his byakugan.

_Shit_ her inner self whispered.

But before she could react, Neji had her pinned against one of the targets, his arm spread across her collar bones just blow her neck and his hand inches away from her heart, glowing with chakara of the now activated byukagan.

"If you try anything like that again, I will kill you" Neji stated his face only inches from her own.

He released Ino who fell to her knees in shock and relief.

She glared at the Hyuuga boy's retreating back as he left the training ground.

When he was out of sight she climbed to her feet. She was still shaking from the interaction her and Neji had just had. She then recalled the chunin exams when Neji was about to deliver a death blow to Hinata.

_He won't even hesitate to kill his own cousin. What makes you think he wouldn't take you out? _ Her inner self said to her.

She took a deep breath before walking around the targets and pulling each of her kunai out of the target before standing in the middle of the ring.

_ Let's try again._

She trained until the sun went down. Her target practice switched to taijutzu and was then replaced with push ups and sit ups.

Once the workout was finished the sun was beginning to go down and she decided it was time to leave the training grounds. As she wandered through the training grounds she saw Kiba and Hinata sparring one another. It was obvious to tell that Kiba was holding back against the Hyuuga heiress, Ino had always had a soft spot for the pretty Hyuuga girl so she wandered over.

"Hi Hinata, hi Kiba" she greeted with a smile.

"Ino" Kiba replied obviously wondering why the blond kunochi was there.

"H-hello I-Ino chan" Hinata greeted with a small smile.

Ino instantly turned her attention to the Hyuuga girl. "Hinata, I couldn't help but notice the way you are holding and swinging you kunai…I know it is very forward of me but do you mind if I give you some pointers?" Ino asked.

"um.. o-ok" Hinata muttered.

Ino smiled brightly and walked slowly over to the Hyuuga girl ignoring the dirty look that Kiba was giving her.

"Hinata, with the byukagan…you are a close range fighter, right?" Ino asked as she drew her own wepon.

"H-hai" Hinata stuttered.

"Show me your stance and how you hold the kunai" Ino demanded.

She watched as Hinata fell into her stance holding her kunai awkwardly. Ino walked up to the girl and moved Hinata's feet with her feet and reached down to push her knees into a bent postion.

Hinata blushed at the contact. "I…I feel like I..I am…in t-the b-byukagan p-position"

Ino nodded as she stood up. "Exactly…why try to fight in a different position if you already know a successful way to use close contact" she explained.

"OK Kiba. Go" she said.

Kiba nodded and attacked Hinata who blocked the attack and continued to fight against the Inuzuka boy. Hinata she was doing better and Ino could tell that Kiba suddenly had to bring it up a notch. But he eventually knocked the kunai out of Hinata's hand.

It was then that Ino noticed that way that Hinata's hand was awkwardly wrapped around the kunai and the way that it was easily knocked out of the girl's hand, as well as the way that she picked up the kunai with her left hand.

"Hinata…are you naturally left handed?" she asked.

Hinata looked at the girl with a blush…"Y-yes…but f-father s-says i-it's in-inappropriate"

Ino smiled sympathetically. "Just try with your left hand" she encouraged as she nodded to Kiba to attack again.

This time Hinata's grasp on the kunai was more solid. And Kiba had to kick it up another notch. Ino smiled as she watched the spar until finally Hinata successfully knocked the kunai out of Kiba's hand.

"Hell yeah, Hinata" she cheered.

Hinata was still in shock while Kiba was smiling proudly.

"Th-thank you…i-Ino chan" "Hinata said softly.

Ino smiled. "No problem" before she walked away.

When she got home she greeted her father happily. Although there was always a pang of sadness; she expected her mom to be too, but she wasn't.

Ino's mother had died the year after Ino entered the academy.

Cancer had taken her life. That night she had cried in Shikamaru's arms while her father, Shaiku and Chouza sat together and drank sake.

"How are you, daddy?" she asked.

Inochi gave her a soft smile before tugging at Ino's stubby ponytail. "I'm sorry you had to cut your hair" he said "I never got to tell you that"

"But I won the battle…so it was worth it" she said with a smile.

Inochi gave her daughter a proud smile before saying "I can't argue with that"

Ino smiled "What do you want to make for dinner?" she asked. Her father was a horrible cook so Ino had taken over cooking while he washed the dishes. Whenever they got in a fight, Ino made sure to dirty as many pots and pans as she could… _what can I say, I am vengeful like that_.

"Whatever you want to make, sweetheart" he said.

Ino decided to make some yakisoba noodles with some vegetables. When she finished she and her father sat together to eat.

"How was training today?" he asked.

"Shikamaru beat me again" she muttered as she angrily stabbed a carrot.

"Remember that boy is a genius lazy as hell but a genius, Ino. Odds are he could beat a number of people"

Ino sighed she knew that he was right. But she wasn't about to give up yet.

"I got close to beating him today…I mean as close as one can get" she said with a smile.

"That's my girl" he said proudly.

She smiled as they finished eating their meal.


	4. Day 2

Ino awoke early that morning, the sun had yet to rise, the sky still shaded by blue and the gray light was just beginning to stain the heavens above.

She put on a pair of shorts and a tank top, opting out of her typical purple outfit and bandages. She silently slipped out the door and began her run around the still sleeping village; the only sign of life was the baker pulling the loaves of bread out of the oven. She gave him a little wave as she ran past him, the baker raised his hand shyly.

When her run concluded, the sun had risen in the sky and she stopped in the training grounds to wait for the rest of team 10. An hour later Chouji and Asuma met her, following shortly after by Shikamaru.

Asuma turned to Shikamaru "We are going to see what your shadow possession jutsu can really do"

"What a drag" he muttered before turning towards his teammates and beginning to form the now familiar hand signs that both Chouji and Ino noticed immediately.

Ino and Chouji quickly jumped out of the way.

Ino made sure to stay in the direct sunlight and at least 30 feet away from the trees, knowing that the shadow user's range was about 30 feet without another shadow to increase his range.

She saw Chouji in a similar position she was in and smiled. Chouji also knew a lot about strategy although he was just too shy to show off his abilities.

When Shikamaru went into his thinking position to think, Ino drew three sebon needles, Chouji saw her movements and mimicked her. They nodded to one another and with a silent count of three threw their weapons at the same time.

Both ninja then jumped back 6 feet, knowing that Shikamaru would spread his shadow in one of their 3 needles reading 3-5 feet.

But Shikamaru was already 10 steps ahead, grabbing the shadows from both Ino's and Chouji's weapons before throwing his now 10 foot long shadow at Chouji.

The boy's body was engulfed in shadow before it turned and leaped towards Ino.

"Shit" she said before jumping back another five feet as Shikamaru's shadow tried to reach her only to land a foot short.

She looked up noticing the clouds that were beginning to move in the wind. If they moved any closer than she would definitely be caught in Shikamaru's shadow.

Shikamaru noticed too by the smirk that he gave her.

She sighed. She had one shot, she held her hands out in front of her and prepared to perform the hand signs necessary to perform the Mind possession jutsu, only to find that her body couldn't move.

She looked down with her eyes only to see that she was caught by the shadow of her arms held out before her right as she was about to preform her jutsu.

_Always ten steps ahead._

She felt herself involuntarily walk up to Shikamaru until they were only a foot apart.

"I won" he said before dropping the jutsu.

Ino's pretty eyes glared at him as he dropped the jutsu. If she couldn't beat him, how the hell was she going to beat that Dosu guy? It was true that compared to Dosu, Shikamaru was a genius but he had been working with Ino long enough to figure out a strategy.

Then again so had she. She figured out his range and with the combined efforts of her and Couji, they could have taken him down with her sebon move, but Shikamaru was trying to make a point. Ino needed to drop out of the final exam. He and she both knew that she had run out of options though. The clouds were moving in, the forest surrounded her, and his shadow was only a foot away from her.

Her only option was to use the mind possession, and Shikamaru had figured out that this was her only option. He patiently waited for her to put her arms out in front of her before he let his shadow rest in the shadow of her slender arms.

She was caught.

He had won.

Asuma came up to Ino and Shikamaru and patted him on the shoulder. "Nice work kid" he said as he patted the shadow-user on the back.

"Ino, you were backed up in a corner and did the only thing that you could do" Asuma said.

The girl nodded. She felt weak once again. _Stupid Shikarmaru_ she thought.

Shikamaru gave her a successful look. Maybe her hard head would figure out that she couldn't win, especially against a guy like Dosu. That man was so logical and great at assessing situations.

Ino was too brash and rushed into things.

He would destroy her. If she got hit with his sound waves, she definitely wouldn't be able to beat the Sound Nin. That attack caused disorientation, vertigo, and nausea. Those things would keep her from being able to perform her jutsu, she would definitely miss Dosu if she used her kekki genkai.

"Oi, Shikamaru are you listening?" her voice broke through his thoughts.

Shikamaru broke away from his thoughts and looked at the blond woman, "What?"

Ino rolled her eyes before walking to the padded training matts and started throwing punches and kicks at it.

"She's not going to stand a chance" Shikamaru deadpanned.

Asuma lit a cigarette "You never know with that one"

"If she gets hit by Dosu's attack she will definitely be taken out. Not to mention he knows exactly what she can do and the limits of her attack"

"She knows that same about him" Asuma said blowing smoke into the air.

"Sensai…" the young genius trailed off.

Asuma sighed and instead of responding walked over to Ino and lightly corrected her stance.

A crunching sound was heard behind him and Shikamaru didn't even have to turn around to see Chouji.

"She's going to get killed"

_Munch. Munch_. The boy didn't reply.

"You agree with me, don't you?" Shikamaru asked.

Chouji gave him the exact same response "You never know. Ino is as stubborn as they come, if anything she won't go down without a fight"

The round boy did have a point.

Ino had fought tooth and nail to defeat Sakura, despite their former friendship. He could tell that she was holding back in the beginning but towards the end, Sakura had stepped it up.

"Sakura doesn't have a kekki gekai…what a drag" Shikamaru muttered as he rested his hands behind his head and looked up at the clouds.

Ino beat against the padded tree until her hands were blistered and bleeding and her long slender legs were covered in bruises.

The sun was setting and she heard the sound of approaching footsteps.

"Oi, Ino" a voice called from behind her.

She turned to see Kiba running towards her with Akamaru following behind.

"Hi, Kiba" she said with a smile.

"I just wanted to say thanks for helping Hinata yesterday. She really shouldn't be out there training…with the injuries that Neji inflicted on her" Kiba mused.

"Shit, is she OK? I have been so caught up in myself…" she said quickly as she apologized to the Inuzuka boy.

"Just worn out, she needs to be taking it easy, but you know her"

Ino nodded, indeed knowing that the Hyuuga girl was one of the hardest working kunochi that she had ever seen. Watching her battle Neji was one of the bravest things that Ino had ever seen.

"Are you sure she is OK?" Ino asked.

Kiba nodded.

The blond released a sigh, realizing how worried about the timid girl that she had been.

"You really care about her huh?" she said softly.

Kiba blushed slightly "Well of course, she is my teammate after all" Kiba managed to stutter out.

Ino chuckled but pretended not to notice the Inuzuka boy's obvious interest in the byukagan user.

"If you ever told her not to do something because she would lose, would you?" she asked.

Kiba looked surprised at the question but instead said softly "I said that to Hinata the day she fought Neji"

"But she fought him anyway"

"Well yeah, but look at what happened to her. Neji literally almost killed her, if it had been two minutes longer…" he let the words die on his tongue.

Ino opened her mouth to protest but Kiba beat her to it.

"Every part of me screams that it was beyond stupid of her to fight Neji, that he would kill her. And I was right… he just about did. But there is a sliver inside my heart somewhere that is beyond proud of her, for facing her fear. For finally standing up to her cousin and proving to everyone how strong she can really be"

Ino nodded at a loss for words. _I highly doubt Shikamaru cares that much. He is too logical to think about anything outside of his big pineapple head._

"Why?" Kiba inquired.

Ino shrugged. "Shikamaru doesn't want me to compete in the finals"

She could see the look of agreement that flashed through Kiba's silted eyes. The boy quickly hid it before responding "The Dosu guy is pretty terrifying…you are going to have to train your ass off before you fight him"

_Safe answer_ Ino thought.

"Well thanks, Kiba!" she said pasting a smile on her face before waving to the boy as she walked by.

She felt Kiba's eyes on her as she walked away from the training grounds.

_He doesn't think that I am strong enough either_ Ino mused to herself as she wandered back home.

She ran into Shikamaru standing outside of her house. "Are you going to withdraw?" he asked.

Ino bristled at his question. "Of course not."

"You have been defeated by me three times in the past two days, how is this not enough evidence that you are not ready?" he demanded.

"I have 27 more days, Shikamaru. Even if I lose I am not going down without a fight"

"He'll kill you. He didn't hesitate to attack his own teammate, that troublesome brunette that you used your kekki genkai on"

Ino glared at the boy. "I am not afraid of him"

"You should be. You are too pig-headed for your own good, troublesome" he muttered as he turned and walked away.

"I am not withdrawing, Shikamaru. Don't you forget it!" she cried after him.


End file.
